Racked with sobs and moaning in pain, the father of six-year-old Liam Hogan was helped into a Greek court yesterday and charged with murdering the boy by jumping with him from a hotel balcony.

John Hogan told an investigating magistrate in Crete that he could not remember leaping from the balcony with Liam tucked under one arm and his two-year-old daughter, Mia, under the other.

Mr Hogan said the last thing he remembered was becoming frantic when his wife, Natasha, threatened to leave him and take the children with her.

In a seven-page statement to the court he said he was overwhelmed with confusion when his wife indicated she wanted to leave him. "I was unable to bear the thought that I would live without my children. I loved my children very much.

"The desire to self-destruct which exploded within me all of a sudden overwhelmed my instinct of self-preservation and my sense of respect for human lives. As a result I lost my ability to distinguish right from wrong."

The magistrate was told Mr Hogan had a history of depression and two of his brothers had killed themselves.

Describing the holiday before the tragedy Mr Hogan said the family had been swimming, had lunch and began to get ready for an evening out. "We were all very, very happy. My little son and I went fishing and I caught a fish in my net. My son was thrilled that I caught a fish."

Shortly before dinner the argument began. "My wife threatened to leave me, take the children and go and live with her mother. I asked about flying home early. They said there were only three seats left available. My wife said she was going to take those three seats and go home with the children."

The next thing he remembered was waking up, mentally disoriented, in an ambulance he said.

Since the accident Mr Hogan has been under police guard in the prisoners' ward of the University General hospital in Heraklion, Crete.

Yesterday he was taken by ambulance to face the investigating magistrate, Christos Papagiorgopoulos, in Neapolis, northern Crete. He sobbed as he was removed from the vehicle, placed in a wheelchair and carried up the steps.

Outside the magistrate's office he hugged his mother, Josephine, and another relative, gulping out: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He hobbled before the magistrate, helped by members of his family and police officers, still weeping.

Following the accident, Mr Hogan, a 32-year-old tiler, has said he does not care what happens to him. He has been under suicide watch.

The hearing was private but his lawyer, Dimitris Xiritakis, said his client's mother had told the judge that Mr Hogan had been severely affected by the suicides of his brothers: one took an overdose and the other jumped from a bridge.

The magistrate asked for a psychiatric report. "If this shows he was not in a sane state of mind and this is accepted by the court at his trial, he will not be jailed. He will be sent to a mental institution."